District Ultras: Small Numbers, Big Support In DC

In the corner of RFK’s crumbling edifice, a small but experienced group of fans have in recent times been making significant shows of support for DC United considerably out of proportion to their actual numbers. They are the District Ultras, founded in 2010. Here’s what they did in their first year:

Many of the individual members of District Ultras are not new to DC United, or to DC United’s historically active supporters’ group scene – arguably the consistently strongest throughout much of the league’s 16-year history – but as a group they are a new addition to a scene traditionally powered by the well-known Barra Brava and Screaming Eagles groups.

Pitch Invasion asked Srdan Bastaic, one of the driving forces behind the District Ultras, where they had come from. “Our core group has been around for much longer, handling all the tifo in the Barra for a long time, but as dominant as we were in, say, the 2005-2007 MLS period, by 2009 or so the supporter scene in US had become much stronger. It wasn’t just DC and Chicago anymore,” Bastaic said. “The DC atmosphere was already stagnating at that point and we wanted to be able to rival the new and old and improved groups. Successful groups need money to run and selling t-shirts and scarves to raise funds really wasn’t going to cut it at that point as it has in the past.”

Bastaic explained that this desire to take DC tifo to a new level and the required funding led to some intense discussions within Barra Brava. “So our tifo crew met, then tried to compromise and talk it through for several months and at the end we didn’t have a choice but to split into a separate group,” Bastaic explains.

This led to a breakaway group of tifo-mad ultras looking for a new section to call home at RFK, briefly floating amongst the other supporter group areas. “Nine of us walked and it was pretty funny for a few months,” Bastaic says. “We were all over the stadium, in the La Norte section one match, then in Screaming Eagles, then between sections. We actually did a few displays by walking into a section of regular fans and putting up these big 20 foot high banners, it was a pretty bizarre time.”

The District Ultras badly needed a space of their own. Bastaic continues, “Around the middle of the season, the DC front office figured we’re not going anywhere, so they gave us a far corner section in RFK. That’s when we started to grow, as people who were interested in our mentality had a stable section to come to.”

DC United versus Seattle, 7.15.10

DC United versus LA, 7.18.10

DC United versus Philadelphia, 8.22.10

DC United versus Columbus, 9.4.10

DC United versus Houston, 9.25.10

DC United versus Houston, 9.25.10

DC United versus Toronto, 10.23.10

That first year in 2010 – with a tifo display every game – was, as would be expected, something of an uphill battle since the District Ultras had to “build everything all over again from the ground up,” as Bastaic puts it. Relations with the club were also “rocky at the start”, though smoothed over as the front office came to understand the group’s purpose: “we’re on the same side after all,” Bastaic says. Support from DC’s Screaming Eagles – particularly helpful with tickets for away games – was a big boon for the nascent group.

In 2011, another smaller though older DC supporters group, La Norte, moved adjacent to the District Ultras, and the two groups have developed a strong relationship together. This helped the District Ultras reach a new level with their support in 2011.

DC United versus New England, 7.20.11

DC United versus Toronto, 8.6.11

DC United versus Salt Lake, 9.24.11

DC United versus Salt Lake, 9.24.11

DC United versus Salt Lake, 9.24.11

DC United versus Chicago, 10.15.11

DC United versus Portland, 10.19.11

DC United versus Kansas City, 10.22.11

Starting a new supporters group is a massive challenge, even for those with the experience of the District Ultras leadership. As DC United General Manager Dave Kasper mentioned on the recent Pitch Invasion podcast, DC United’s support may have to wait until the club moves to a new stadium before it matches the new standards set in MLS support in recent seasons, reclaiming the ground once held by Barra Brava and Screaming Eagles.

One suspects if DC’s support does take a fresh spurt forward, it’ll be in part from District Ultras’ imaginative tifo efforts: as Bastaic puts it, “We’ve got a good mixture of veterans and new blood, and we can really go anywhere from here, supporting our club and representing our city.”

Update: Here’s a roundup of District Ultras’ 2011 tifo efforts

All photos provided by District Ultras. Photos 7.15.10 and 9.24.11 by Neil Brandvold.

Great article! You guys really have done a great job with tifo. This article actually showed some things that I’d never seen before. What’s also cool is that I was the one who sent the DU the picture with the caption “DC United versus Chicago, 10.15.11”. I handle tifo for the Screaming Eagles, and Srdan’s definitely the front runner for best tifo guy (I like to think I’m getting better).

DU are a cool bunch of people and we definitely need to make some joint tifo at some point. Can’t wait until March 10th!

February 28, 2012 at 11:31 pmTheo

Great article! I’ve been with the DU for the whole last season and the very final part of the one before (september and beyond), I went with them just to try and I decided to stick with it (and I tend to be a little picky about these things, after so many years in Italian stadiums). Although still small, it’s a good group, with a good mix of tifo experience and youth energy – I think we’ll grow over time.

February 29, 2012 at 10:03 pmBig-E

Yeah. Plus when there are only like a dozen guys in your entire section, it is important to have big signs! Let’s be clear, you can’t put up giant signs and leave them there because you’ll block the view of everyone behind you. We have the same issue mid-field, so we worked it out to keep the great seating areas!

Don’t forget we did this exact thing from 2004-2009 in midfield 🙂 Fortress RFK and Heart of a Lion were about same size of things we do now (also first 2 pictures are from midfield before we got a section).

March 2, 2012 at 3:51 pmWeekend Warrior

Big-E –
The banners stay up for a grand total of maybe 5 minutes at the beginning of the games. Nobody complains about blocked views. The important thing is having people in the section who care about the game and the team, not just tailgating and drinking.